Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said Trump’s order was “an important and truly historic moment”.
Posting on X, he said the sanctions would have inflicted “serious damage”, primarily on the US and global market, and that economic cooperation benefits both nations.
Democrats including the Virginia Congressman Don Beyer criticised the move, accusing Trump of capitulating to Moscow and turning his back on Kyiv and Zelensky.
“Trump’s latest surrender to Putin again betrays our Ukrainian partners and defies clear congressional intent of legislation designed to punish Russia for its illegal war of aggression,” Beyer wrote on X.
A handful of Republicans, too, came out against the move.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a Trump ally, called waiving the sanctions a mistake, saying on Fox News: “I wish the president hadn’t done it.”
He added there were other ways to address diesel prices and “the current path, unfortunately, just… benefits Putin and that’s not a good idea.”
Senator John Cornyn, also of Texas, said on X: “Helping Putin in Ukraine is reckless. He would not stop with Ukraine and our NATO allies would be next.”
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis called it “beyond irresponsible”, noting the sanctions legislation passed the chamber with a large, bipartisan majority.
Trump could bring down energy prices “by solving the Iran problem, not by doing a solid for Vladimir Putin,” he said.
Nebraska Representative Don Bacon said many lawmakers will now resist funding the president’s agenda “knowing he is propping up a dictator’s invasion and throwing an ally under the bus”.
The move is likely to draw further anger from Ukraine, where Zelensky has long stressed the need for stringent sanctions to limit funding that Russia can use in its war effort.
Zelensky said on Saturday morning that the sanctions “could have helped enormously” and that the law was “supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia to bring this war to an end”.
He pointed to Russian overnight attacks on 15 Ukrainian energy facilities that had caused power cuts in several regions and said: “Russia is trying to cause a blackout in Ukraine – right before winter.”
Zelensky said it was “important that everyone in America also sees what is really happening” on the ground.